retinol

/ˈrɛ.tən̩ɑl/

//ˈrɛ.tən̩ɑl// noun

"retinol" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“retinol” is uncommon English (frequency #55,061 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#55,061
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A fat-soluble carotenoid vitamin (vitamin A), present in fish oils and green vegetables, essential to normal vision and to bone development.

Corpus desk

Index EN-retinol · retinol · English

retinol · rank #55,061 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #55,061
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH restate

Nearest frequency peer: restate (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “retinol”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “retinol” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for retinol
PropertyValue
Headwordretinol
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈrɛ.tən̩ɑl/
Letters7
Frequency rank#55,061
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “retinol” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).retinolfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “restate” (#55,060), “retrofitting” (#55,062), “resettle” (#55,058). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “retinol” is #55,061. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

retinol is uncommon English at frequency #55,061 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈrɛ.tən̩ɑl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A fat-soluble carotenoid vitamin (vitamin A), present in fish oils and green vegetables, essential to normal vision and to bone development.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for retinol, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From retina + -ol. The correct English form is retinol, spelled R-E-T-I-N-O-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    A fat-soluble carotenoid vitamin (vitamin A), present in fish oils and green vegetables, essential to normal vision and to bone development.

Etymology

From retina + -ol.

Synonyms

axerophtholvitamin A

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "retinol"?
"retinol" is spelled R-E-T-I-N-O-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈrɛ.tən̩ɑl/.
What does "retinol" mean?
As a noun, "retinol" means: A fat-soluble carotenoid vitamin (vitamin A), present in fish oils and green vegetables, essential to normal vision and to bone development.
How do you pronounce "retinol"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "retinol" is /ˈrɛ.tən̩ɑl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "retinol"?
From retina + -ol. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "retinol", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list